Following Team Melli’s successful qualification to the third round of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and also qualification to the finals of the AFC Asian Cup 2023, there were ambiguities about the status of Dragan Skocic’s post as the head coach.

After the squad returned from Bahrain, Shahab Azizi Khadim, the head of FFIRI announced that the contract with Skocic has expired with the conclusion of the second round of the preliminaries and his federation’s Board of Directors will meet to discuss the future of Head Coach post of Team Melli.

On the other hand, in an interview with a local TV station, the incumbent coach Skocic, refuted any claims of expiry of the contract as he clearly mentioned that he has a contract up to the end of the World Cup.

On Sunday, the Football Federation eventually decided to continue with the services of the Croatian coach. “The Football Federation reached a joint agreement with the head coach of the national team until the end of the third qualifying round of the World Cup,” Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem confirmed the news. The president of the football federation added: “After the draw of the third round, it was decided to make proper plans for this stage and the football federation will put all the necessary facilities for the preparation of the national team and a strong presence in the third round on the agenda.”

The draw for the final qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be held on July 1st in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Iranian national football team is seeded no 2 as head of a 6 team group drawn from two pots.

Dragan Skočić, left Tehran early morning Monday for a one-week break in Croatia.